CONFERENCE CALL INFO:
Friday, April 30 at 12:00PM EDT
* Call in number: USA Bridge Number: (619) 276-6333
* Pin: 411911
For local call in numbers see: http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Telephone_Bridge
ATTENDEE LIST: http://wiki.crisiscommons.org/wiki/Attendees_-_April_30,_2010
CrisisCamp Miami ended with a message of gratitude to the gathered volunteers.
“You were a part of something historical this weekend,” said Patrick Barbanes, a coordinator of the camp. “Thanks for being a part of history.
The volunteers presented their projects at the end of their day. Here is a list of just some of the work done today:
The camp ended with encouragement to persevere in the crisis camp efforts started today. Volunteers have been encouraged to contribute the Crisis Commons Wiki and other efforts. We hope everyone found today’s event helpful and informative. You can watch the farewell address in the video, which has more about what was accomplished, below.
Yanira Gonzalez and a table of volunteers studied a web site for collecting and distributing supplies and services for Haiti, and they found it lacking. Now, the wall next to their table is covered with yellow sheets of paper listing their ideas for revamping the site.
The group studied “We Have, We Need Exchange,” a site listed as Completed on the Crisis Commons Wiki, and it discovered that the site cannot accept cell phone texts. The group thinks the site, intended to be used by Non-Governmental Organizations, needs to be rebuilt from scratch to accept cell phone texts.
On the new site, people will be able to text their need for supplies and services. People with supplies and services will also be able to advertize them by text. Not every one has a computer, but most people have a cell phone with texting abilities, said Damian Montero, Fort Lauderdale Web developer. So it’s important that they be able to access the site.
Ideas at the table flew quickly, and the considerations going in to the project are numerous. Volunteers have begun assigning duties to be completed after CrisisCamp and are hoping to start a wiki about their efforts.
Volunteers interested in getting involved can e-mail yaniragonzalez@bellsouth.net. The site will be called “We have, We need Plus.”
Benny Salas is working to cut through all the red tape in getting supplies to Haiti. He describes his organization’s efforts:
Related links:
James Webb is an iPhone and mobile application developer who is working with a small team of tech-heads to bring Google’s People Finder to the iPhone. The goal is for users to be able to search for or add a name, upload a photo and input latitude and longitude coordinates with greater ease because of the locating abilities of the iPhone. If you have any desire to assist with this project or would like to help build another version for Android and other mobile platforms, you can get in touch with James via Twitter.
Post-it notes, mind maps, Excel sheets and phone lists are taking shape. One of the projects being brainstormed today is a 501(c3) non profit organization with a Web portal that would guide people who want to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake on an extremely local level. Because Miami has one of the largest communities of Haitians in the country, the local ties to Haiti here are some of the strongest.
The portal (as it appeared to me as a fly on the wall in their session), under the name ‘Konfit for Haiti’ would classify any and all ways that people specifically in South Florida can contribute. If you can’t afford to give monetarily and want to give blood, where can you go and be assured that these resources will benefit the people of Haiti? It appeared that the goal of this portal would be to answer questions like this. It would be ongoing and updated with events like loading shipping containers and would encourage organizations from all over to add their database.
Here’s a snippet from their brainstorming session:
#CCHaiti Miami planning meeting for Volunteer Database Portal from Lori Todd on Vimeo.
Thanks to Lori for filming.
It’s been “organized chaos” here , as one person said, as volunteers strive to find roles in the many aid projects featured today. Alex de Carvalho, social media strategist, University of Miami professor and a coordinator of CrisisCamp, has run down a list of projects ideas, from translating to and from Haitian Creole to mapping out important locations in Haiti. And volunteers have already come up with new ideas.
Carlos Cardona, who has lived in Miami-Dade County for 15 years, has decided to help a group of people creating a database of Miami volunteer opportunities.
“I think that there’s a lot of people that want to help but don’t know how,” Cardona said.
Cardona, chief social media strategist for Welltok, a social network company specializing in healthcare, has many friends from Haiti, and he feels Miami is in a unique position to help the Haitian refugees as they try to find homes and jobs in the United States. The group is still brainstorming what it will do, but Cardona hopes put his professional social media experience to good use by marketing the project online. He can be found on Twitter at @CarlosCardona
Organizers of Miami’s CrisisCamp Miami introduce themselves to the crowd:
Stephen Malagodi (@malagodi)
Alex de Carvalho (@alexdc)
Patrick Barbanes (@pbarbanes)
Beatrice Garcia (@beagarcia)
We can’t get the video embeds to work on Wordpress right now, so to watch the video, click here.
Oh, wait…got it to work!… Here it is!
CrisisCamp Haiti Introduction, Miami from Lori Todd on Vimeo.
I just finished the 75–minute drive down to Miami from my home in Jupiter, Fla., and I’m sitting in a room at The Miami Herald with more than 60 people who brought a wide range of expertise to help aid the people of Haiti.
Almost every chair in the sweltering room is occupied by students , social media experts, web professionals, business people, and creative experts eager to assist . They come from a wide spectrum of workplaces ranging from Florida International University to Carnival Cruise Lines.
Right now, everyone in the group is introducing themselves and highlighting what they can offer, from Blackberry application development to technical support. We’re going to break into groups soon to start tapping into the reservoires of expertise here.
—Alex Tiegen
The conference room at 1 Herald Plaza is slowly being filled with CrisisCamp volunteers. I’ve already met Steve Louis, Director of IT and Business Relations at FIU who specializes in helping small businesses recover after hurricanes. I’m also sitting at a table with Bob Jaffie who deals with crisis management and emergency planning for IBM. This event is right up everybody’s alley.
Some people are still a little bit confused as to what exactly it is we will be doing today. We’ve got a short list for now of the documents and spreadsheets that will be attempted today.
As this list grows throughout the afternoon, we’ll keep you posted. A list of wikis that the CrisisCamps all over the country are working on can be found here.
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